Page 24 - Empowering Missional Artists - Jim Mills.pdf

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their unique gifts and personal development if they expect to be productive over a whole

lifetime.”( Clinton 1987, 180). This has been our aim and experience in our work in Europe as we

have endeavored to empower artists prepared to navigate postmodern European cultures.

Beginning at the end of the 1970s and in to the early 1980s, we offered seminars on

creativity and worship. In those early years, YWAM’s teaching on the ‘Seven Mind Molders of

Society’ by Loren Cunningham, as well as Francis Schaefer’s writings, guided and formed our

thinking and strategies. By the mid 1980s we were running four-week summer art camps along

with a six-week performing art tour. Up to 25 participants joined our leadership team of eight

staff. Some of those who joined were professionally trained, but many were naturally talented

young people who had a passion to serve with their gifts. The six-week tour performed in

cathedrals, city stages, in schools, on the streets and in festivals.

During these years, the four ‘C’s of our ministry philosophy surfaced: character,

craftsmanship, compassion, and creative communication. Along with these, our goal was to

teach a Biblical worldview for the place of the arts for church and society. Working creatively has

a tendency of exposing the unfinished areas in a person’s life. Deep healings, conviction,

repentance, personal restoration, reconciliation, tears, forgiveness, laughter, fun, more tears,

intercession, injuries, physical healings, and miracles are some of the words that come to mind

describing those years.

Before that time our nine years in YWAM had produced a marvelous value system and

worldview that endorsed moving in the arts. We also highly valued and attempted to live out our

YWAM basic character DNA: transparency, vulnerability, trust, open-ness, broken-ness, and

servanthood. During our ten-week crucible, character was not only forged into the hearts of the

participants all along the way, but in our lives as leaders as well. The art camps that began in